Snakes tail is cut off!!!

[Puppyclown]

Help! I found a garter snake today, and caught it because I love snakes. But when I lifted him up I found that his tail was dangling by a thread and he was bleeding. I took him home but don't know what to do for him!!! Can anyone help?

[joeysgreen]

I think this was answered in another resent thread, but you can clean the wound, and put the snake back to where you found it. Tail injuries are common in wild snakes.

[ConcinusMan]

I would clip it off if it's still partially attached and not broken very short/close to the cloaca. They have little to no feeling in the thinnest part of the tail tail really and don't seem to experience any pain by clipping it off. It's going to die and eventually fall off anyway. Also, tail injuries tend to not require any special treatment they usually heal up just fine but you can dab an antiseptic on the injury as a precaution. Clipping it off would be helpful so it doesn't get caught up on things. I had to clip a hook off the end of a baby that was born with it because it kept getting hung up. I just used sharp nail clippers and made it quick. Snake didn't even react and just lost a small drop of blood and it healed fine.

Sometimes snakes fail to shed the tail tip. It becomes strangulated, dies, becomes brittle and breaks off. That might be what happened here. Contrary to popular thinking, most wild "stub tails" aren't predator injuries, but failure to shed the tail resulting in loss of it.